Description
Object description
British gunner served with C Bty, 122nd Bde Royal Field Artillery in GB and on Western Front, 1915-1918
Content description
REEL 1: Background in Brynaman, Wales, 1897-1915: family; education; employment in colliery at 14; memory of Boer War and returning veterans; reaction to outbreak of war, 8/1914; description of meetings and recruitment drives; question of involvement of church in recruitment; story of formation of Home Guard in Brynaman; story of enlistment with Royal Field Artillery at Amonford, 1/1915. Aspects of training with Royal Field Artillery in GB, 1915: medical examination; posted to 38th Div and question of uniform; description of training in North Wales, Winchester and on Salisbury Plain; training with 18-pounders and opinion of quality of guns and equipment; description of role as No.3 in gun team and gun placements; opinion of training; ammunition and rate of fire.
REEL 2 Continues: description of horse transport; relations with civilians in Winchester and Salisbury; memory of marching past Queen Mary; story of journey to France and arrival at Le Havre, 12/1915. Recollection of operations with C Bty, 122nd Bde Royal Field Artillery on Western Front, 1915-1918: problem with horses during voyage; movement by night and need for secrecy; moved up line towards Festhubert area; memory of German POWs in cage; comparison of conditions for British and German POWs; attitude to Germans; description of Mametz Wood; description of role in attack on Mametz Wood, Somme, 7/1916; location of battery; use of telephone to receive orders; description of providing covering fire prior to infantry assault on Wood and problem of adjustment of fire; memory of sound of guns; problem of cutting barbed wire; question of accuracy of fire; casualties; problem of fighting in Wood and question of artillery support; description of changing appearance of Wood during battle; strategic importance of Wood and question of strength of German defences.
REEL 3 Continues: further comments on casualties and treatment of wounded; question of movement of battery during attack on Mametz Wood; assessment of role of artillery and problem of confused orders; memory of visit to 38th Div Memorial at Mametz, 7/1987; description of role in attack on Pilkem Ridge, Ypres (Passchendaele) area, Belgium, 8/1917; problem of ice and mud; memory of bodies floating in water; memory of death of battery commander; description of shelling and battery practice fire; question of strength of German defences on Ridge; story of six out of eight members of gun team being killed or wounded; problem of moving guns in mud; memory of death of Bryn Lewis; question of reinforcements; assessment of success in capturing Pilkem Ridge; description of retreat during German offensive, 3/1918; question of confusion during retreat and Allied advance during summer 1918; memory of Armistice, 11/Nov/1918; story of friend's captivity in German POW camp.
REEL 4 Continues: effect of losses of young men on Welsh mining villages; sings song 'Homeland, Homeland' associated with 38th Div; opinion of role of chapel during war; attitude to conscientious objectors and question of killing; story of psychological effect on friend who was member of firing squad; attitude to role with artillery; description of digging trenches and dugouts and filling sandbags with earth; memory of German emerging from dugout; memory of being frozen into blanket in Ypres area; problem of frostbitten toes; question of state of health; cigarette ration; question of rum ration prior to action; water supplies; opinion of rations; description of raid to take prisoners; question of extra rations following loss of men.
REEL 5 Continues: communications with home; description of French and Belgian farms; rest periods; question of supply of beer and wine at start of war; question of censorship of mail; story of writing to bereaved Irish family; attitude to loss of friends; problem of lice and memory of burning underclothes on leave; memory of visit by Haig and King George V; question of ranks on Welsh war memorials; story of using Welsh over telephone to confuse Germans; question of ammunition supplies; opinion of Australian and French troops; memory of French officer wearing scent; attitude to senior officers; story of 'gentlemen's agreement' between senior British and German officers; further comments on loss of friends; problem of having nightmares about war. Post-war employment in colliery.